"He is evil! He must be destroyed!"

The intensity in the woman's voice startled Jarrek, and he stole a quick glance at the boy beside him. Could she be right? Was he the one the prophets warned about?

How had things gotten to this point, anyway? Wasn't it only a week ago that this lad had arrived upon Jarrek's stoop, hungry and cold, without a memory of who he was or where he had been? Now suddenly he found his home on the verge of being burned to the ground, and the fear of a village transformed into a mask of hate and vengeance.

"Vianna, please, go home," Jarrek addressed the woman with a torch, casting his gaze upon the rest of the people in turn. "Chiase, Frichio... All of you. Listen to what you are saying!"

"No more lies!" called out a man in the crowd. Jarrek thought it might have been Tristo. "This boy has caused my cattle to become ill! There is no meat to feed my family."

"Our hens lay rotten eggs," chimed in another woman -- Ziyana.

Others called out their problems, all of which they attributed to the odd boy, who stared at the villagers with a mix of fear and curiosity. His head cocked to one side, his eyes wide, he watched the people in front of them, seeming to take in every movement they made.

Jarrek held up his hands in what he hoped was a placating gesture. "He is only ten seasons! How can he possibly perform all of the feats you are all claiming?"

Vianna, the woman who had called him evil, stepped forth, her torch coming dangerously close to the thatch of the stoop's roof. "A messenger of the devil will not have a hideously deformed face. Such a beast will be pleasing to look at, wearing a mask of innocence so that we might embrace it as it plunges its daggers into us from behind! Look how his stands there silently. It is not natural!"

It was true, Jarrek realized. The boy had not said a single word since the angry villagers had appeared. It had been almost as if he'd expected them.

But they had to be talking crazy! He himself had experienced crop failures, yes, but Shaylo couldn't be responsible. He had watched the boy closely as they worked. He had done nothing to sabotage the crops. Besides that, how would he have been able to cause all of the problems the villagers claimed? They had been together since the boy's arrival!

"Are you going to hand the demon over, Jarrek?" asked the man in front, who had moved to stand beside Vianna. "Or do we have to burn the whole place down with you in it?"